The FBI reports that homes without a functional security system are three times more likely to be burglarized. Break-ins aren’t the only threat; fires, flooding, appliance malfunctions, and medical emergencies affect thousands of households across the United States every day. So, how can you help protect your home and family? Many homeowners realize the benefits of installing a home security system, but aren’t sure how to choose the best one. The top home security systems offer an array of convenient solutions that fit your needs.

1. Wireless home monitoring

More homes are foregoing a landline for broadband and cellular connectivity. Home security companies have also made the transition, offering fully or nearly fully wireless monitoring packages. Wireless communication is faster and more reliable than landline options, and are much harder for intruders to tamper with, as there are no wires to snip.

2. Round-the-clock monitoring with immediate response

You can’t be awake at your home 24-7. Break-ins, flash flooding, carbon monoxide leaks, and other stealthy threats can emerge without warning. Experience home monitoring companies have responders working round-the-clock to detect these threats, sound your alarm, and dispatch help as quickly as possible. It’s a crucial feature that every homeowner deserves.

3. Backup monitoring centers

Whether it’s a blackout in your area or network issues, reliable home security companies have several backup monitoring stations to help keep your home protected. You should also look for packages that offer a backup battery for your security devices that can keep your system on and powered for at least 12 hours after a power outage.

4. Motion sensors

Using infrared technology, motion sensors detect unusual movement inside your home and alert you via a sound byte, alarm, or text message. If you have dogs or cats, look for pet-friendly motion sensors that recognize the scurrying of your four-legged friends to prevent false alarms. Most home security companies also offer door and window sensors that detect forced entry through these areas in your home. If your home has a lot of square footage or entrances, choose a package that offers additional sensors.

5. Emergency key fob

For when your hands are full or you can’t reach your home security system’s control panel in time, an emergency key fob can sound your alarm and alert authorities with just one touch. It’s an invaluable tool ideal for senior family members, pregnant or nursing mothers, and young children.

6. Specialized threat sensors

Your home security needs may vary depending on the age and location of your home. If you have older appliances, you may want to opt for carbon monoxide detectors to protect you in case your stove or dryer malfunctions. If you live in a rainy region, a flood sensors can alert you before you’re knee-deep in water. Does it feel like winter all-year round? If so, look for a home security package with a freeze sensor in case your heating system fails. Many security companies also offer glass break sensors and garage door sensors.

7. Remote access

Today’s world is defined by connectivity. If you often travel, work late hours, or recently had a child, remote access solutions can give you added peace of mind. You can receive instant text or email alerts whenever someone enters your home, access your security system from your smartphone, and even watch a live stream of your home from your computer.

You want to live a healthy life and to bring up your children to do the same. A safe community gives you the freedom to walk around outdoors and let your children play outside. Living in a secure place helps you sleep more soundly at night, and it lets you dream about and work toward the future instead of being fearful about the present. You can be friendly with the neighbors and visitors instead of suspicious of them.

A healthy and safe community does not happen by accident. You can take a leading role in building a safe community by securing your home, building ties with your neighbors, and strengthening bonds with other community members.

1. Secure your own home.

Your home is one part of the community that you can control completely. Protect it with a home security system to deter intruders and alert you if one is present. If possible, select a wireless system so criminals cannot cut the wires and disable the system. The system can include sensors such as for carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and radon gas to detect these harmful substances.

Another part of your home security system includes security lights to light up your property and make hiding more difficult. In addition, cut back all hedges and bushes that could hide a person. You can also install video monitors so you and your security system company can watch your home when you are away.

2. Work with your neighbors.

Make an effort to meet your neighbors and share your vision for a healthy and safe neighborhood. Hopefully, most will agree with your goals and strategies. Once you know your neighbors, you can watch each other’s homes when away on vacation, and do other favors such as parking in each other’s driveways and taking out the trash when one of you is away.

A community watch program can bring you closer to your neighbors, as well as decrease crime to make everyone feel safer. When starting one, work with your local police officers, who may have suggestions or helpful materials. Select a few officials to run your program, and hold regular briefing meetings to keep everyone up to speed.

3. Keep the neighborhood clean.

Keep your property clean to deter vandals. Maintain your house and front yard so that they appear to be cared for and so potential troublemakers know you keep close watch over your property. Also, you and your neighbors should keep common areas, such as sidewalks and curbs, clean. Fix broken windows, paint over graffiti, and pick up trash, even if it is not yours.

4. Protect your children.

If children live in your neighborhood, discuss ways to keep them safe. Their parents may appreciate all of the neighborhood adults enforcing a rule not to play in the street, for example. All adults can also play a small role in supervising children when they are playing outside the other adults’ homes.

Regardless of the rules, accidents do happen. Children may play in the street, or run after a ball that has rolled out into the street. If fast-moving traffic is common in your neighborhood, consider contacting local officials to find out about installing warning signs. Lowering driving speeds by 10 miles per hour can dramatically decrease the mortality rate from being hit by a car.

What if you knew what a burglar was thinking before he even broke into your home? What is you knew what he was planning, what he was looking for in terms of an easy target, and what would cause him to avoid your home altogether? Well, this compilation of tips from former burglars is like picking the brain of a criminal – and you just might pick up a few tips on making your home more secure.

First they look…

Often when a burglar breaks in to a home it is not his first time being in the neighborhood or even inside the home itself. Many times the criminal will check out the neighborhood, dressing as a repairman or other type of service person. He may walk around carrying a rake, walking a dog, or even putting fliers on doors which will allow him to get a closer look at homes without raising suspicion. The hours between 8 am and 11 am are prime time for this type of activity. Most people are not at home so he can snoop with minimal chance of a confrontation.

They will keep an eye on Facebook and other social media sites looking for people posting about leaving for vacation. That is like an invitation to a burglar. He has 5 days or 10 days or however long your vacation is to get into your home and take your things at his own leisure. He also enjoys looking at family photos, especially interior shots. These can be very telling – and with your big screen TV and expensive stereo in the background of that shot of your smiling baby, well, it’s like handing him a catalog of your belongings.

The perfect house…

As the burglar walks around the neighborhood, he is taking note of houses that are easy targets. Some of the things he is looking for include:

• Privacy fences – the higher the better
• Trees, shrubbery, and tall plants that provide coverage and will give him some privacy while he is breaking in
• No sign of a home security system
• Houses without large dogs
• Playground equipment in the yard (this means kids live there which means gaming systems!)

When the plan is set in motion…

Usually the criminal has already been to the home and perhaps even inside it. Be careful about allowing repairmen or workers use your bathroom or walk around your home. Many criminals have made their shopping lists doing this, even leaving a window open for easy access, and showed up several days later to clean out the place.

On “game day” the burglar will often walk right up to your front door and knock. If no one is home, he will try the door to see if it opens. If that doesn’t work he will begin walking around the house looking for an open window. If there is no open window he will look for an area that is hidden from the prying eyes of the neighbors and break a window.

Once inside…

Once the criminal is inside the house, he will usually start his search in the master bedroom. Lots of valuables are stored there. He will go through the dresser drawers, the bathroom cabinets (some medications have great street value), and work his way into other areas of the house including the living room. Rarely do they bother with children’s rooms.

Many burglars have said that home security systems stop them in their tracks. If they see that a house has an alarm system, they will go off in search of something easier to hit. They will also tend to move on to the next house is they think someone is home (they hear a TV or radio), or if they hear a large dog. Also, nosey neighbors can be the best deterrent.

Don’t leave your family’s security to chance. Make your home unattractive to burglars. It doesn’t take a lot of effort, but the benefits are invaluable.

What are your tips for making your home more secure and less attractive to burglars?

If you’re concerned about the security of your home when you’re away, there are some things you can do to give the appearance that you’re still around. In general, most thieves look for an easy target; they aren’t likely to go after a home that seems to have someone in it, especially if there are empty homes on the same block.

1. Place a Temporary Hold on Your Mail

Rather than asking someone to pick up your mail for you, you can simply direct the postal service to hold on to your mail for a certain amount of time and to deliver it later on. Mail stacked up inside of your mailbox is a tell-tale sign that you’re not home, but someone regularly coming to pick up your mail can also be a signal. It’s much easier to simply have the mail wait for you at the post office.

2. Schedule Your Lights and Television on a Timer

Simply having your lights on all the time may not be enough to deter an intelligent thief; in fact, they may note that your lights are always on and take that as a sign that you’re away. But you can schedule your lights on a timer instead, which will turn your lights on and off during ordinary waking hours. As an additional bonus, you can schedule a smart television or a music device to play sounds while you’re away–as though you were watching television and listening to music. Do make sure that it isn’t too loud and doesn’t play at night though, or you might come home to neighborly complaints.

3. Remember to Hire a Yard Service

If you’ll be gone for longer than a week, you should have someone stop by to either mow the lawn or rake the leaves. An unkempt lawn is a sure sign of a vacant home–especially if your yard is normally well-kept. As an additional benefit, it means that you won’t need to deal with any overgrowth once you get back! If you have deliveries that you couldn’t stop (such as FedEx or UPS packages), you can also ask the yard service to put them to the side while they’re there, thereby killing two birds with one stone.

4. Avoid Closing Your Drapes

Many people close their drapery or blinds when they leave, but this can actually have the reverse effect. After all, even when you are home, there are times when you can’t be seen through the windows. Completely closed drapery can seem unusual if you normally leave it open–and, even worse, it means that your neighbors won’t be able to see intruders in your house. However, what you should do is move any expensive items (such as computers) away from the open windows so that they cannot be seen. You don’t want to accidentally tempt someone into a “smash and grab”!

Using the above tips, you should be able to convince most people that you’re still home. Don’t forget that you should never tell people when you’re away–except if you want to ask a close friend to watch over your house for you. The more people who know you’re away, the more likely the information is to get into the wrong hands.

 

Are you aware of the home security risks inherent to social media? Social media is a fun, easy way to connect with friends and family, but it can also be very dangerous. Here are a few things that you absolutely need to know about keeping your home safe.

Criminals Use Social Media to Search for Potential Victims

You may think that only your friends (or friends of friends) will ever view your social media profile, but there are many criminals who will specifically search for victims in their area. They may, for instance, search for “Grand Rapids, MI” and “vacation” to see who is currently on vacation in that city. Thus, you should never post any information about when you will be leaving the home. If you want to post about a vacation or trip, you should post about it after.

Even a Private Profile Isn’t Always Private

Information that is shared on a private profile can still be shared to other friends–and you may not realize that it has been shared. An excited family member might share your upcoming trip, for instance. Some platforms, such as Facebook, do their best to conceal information; others do not. Ultimately, it’s a good idea not to rely upon privacy settings to protect you; if you don’t want something shared with everyone, don’t share it at all.

Some Platforms May Automatically Post Your Location

Platforms such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook may (if they have your permission) post where you are when you use them. This can be dangerous because someone can easily see that you are out of town–and if they already know that you live alone, they will know that your home is empty. You can go into the settings of your social media accounts to turn off geo-locational features.

Criminals Can Use Social Media to Determine Your Habits

In addition to knowing where you are, some criminals may be able to use your social media accounts to determine where you will be. As an example, they could use your social media accounts to determine when your ordinary work hours are, or when you’re most likely to be picking up the kids. It may seem harmless to talk about your work or home schedule, but it’s usually best to be as vague as possible when posting to social media.

You May Be Revealing Security Issues and Not Realize It

In addition to revealing your schedule and your habits, you could reveal other problems with your security. As an example, you might post a picture of a broken fence, or post about how your child keeps leaving your front door unlocked, or that your dog is all bark and no bite. Always think about things before you post them; if you’re posting about a security issue, make sure you fix it before you post about it.

Overall, it’s easy to see how sharing on social media can represent a risk to your home and your family. The more information you post, the more likely it is that a criminal may feel comfortable intruding upon your home. Thus, it’s a good idea to exercise caution; share as few specifics as possible, control your privacy settings and add only friends and family members who are close to you.